ASTM_E_2943_-_15.pdf

Designation:E294315Standard Guide forTwo-Sample Acceptance and Preference Testing withConsumers1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2943;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONThis guide is intended to be used by sensory consumer and marketing research professionals(referred to as the“researcher”or“research professional”)as an aid to understanding issues associatedwith and to conducting two-sample acceptance and preference tests with consumers.This guideincludes a general summary of considerations and practices for conducting hedonic tests followed byspecific considerations and practices for both acceptance and preference testing,including pros andcons of each method.Final sections consider the incorporation of both acceptance and preferencetesting into the research plan and discuss potential lack of linkage in output/results between them.Aflowchart outlining summary of these methods and references for further reading are also included.1.Scope1.1 This guide covers acceptance and preference measureswhen each is used in an unbranded,two-sample,product test.Each measure,acceptance,and preference,may be used aloneor together in a single test or separated by time.This guidecovers how to establish a products hedonic or choice statusbased on sensory attributes alone,rather than brand,positioning,imagery,packaging,pricing,emotional-culturalresponses,or other nonsensory aspects of the product.Themost commonly used measures of acceptance and preferencewill be covered,that is,product liking overall as measured bythe nine-point hedonic scale and preference measured bychoice,either two-alternative forced choice or two-alternativewith a“no preference”option.1.2 Three of the biggest challenges in measuring a productshedonic(overall liking or acceptability)or choice status(preference selection)are determining how many respondentsand who to include in the respondent sample,setting up thequestioning sequence,and interpreting the data to make prod-uct decisions.1.3 This guide covers:1.3.1 Definition of each type of measure,1.3.2 Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages ofeach,1.3.3 When to use each,1.3.4 Practical considerations in test execution,1.3.5 Risks associated with each,1.3.6 Relationship between the two when administered inthe same test,and1.3.7 Recommended interpretations of results for productdecisions.1.4 The intended audience for this guide is the sensoryconsumer professional or marketing research professional(“theresearcher”)who is designing,executing,and interpreting datafrom product tests with acceptance or choice measures,or both.1.5 Only two-sample product tests will be covered in thisguide.However,the issues and recommended practices raisedin this guide often apply to multi-sample tests as well.Detailedcoverage of execution tactics,optional types of scales,variousapproaches to data analysis,and extensive discussions of thereliability and validity of these measures are all outside of thescope of this guide.1.6 UnitsThe values stated in SI units are to be regardedas the standard.No other units of measurement are included inthis standard.1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.1This guide is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E18 on SensoryEvaluation and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E18.04 on Fundamen-tals of Sensory.Current edition approved May 1,2015.Published May 2015.Originallyapproved in 2014.Last previous edition approved in 2014 as E2943 14.DOI:10.1520/E2943-15.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E253 Terminology Relating to Sensory Evaluation of Mate-rials and ProductsE456 Terminology Relating to Quality and StatisticsE1871 Guide for Serving Protocol for Sensory Evaluation ofFoods and BeveragesE1958 Guide for Sensory Claim SubstantiationE2263 Test Method for Paired Preference TestE2299 Guide for Sensory Evaluation of Products by Chil-dren and Minors3.Terminology3.1 For definitions of terms relating to sensory analysis,seeTerminology E253,and for terms relating to statistics,seeTerminology E456.3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:3.2.1 (alpha)risk,nprobability of concluding that adifference in liking or preference exists,when,in reality,onedoes not.3.2.1.1 DiscussionAlso known as Type I error or signifi-cance level.3.2.2 (beta)risk,nprobability of concluding that nodifference in liking or preference exists,when,in reality,onedoes.3